Why Did This Affect Me?
I've been hanging a lot on Substack's Notes. There's a vibrant fiction community there and people share writing prompts and micro fiction. A recent friend I made, Miguel , has been posting daily prompts with 50 word stories. Lots of people join in, myself included. The other week, Miguel posted a story. Something about the lines where the character lost just punched me in the feels. I couldn't stop thinking about it. A week later, it was still on my mind, and I restacked it and said the story was living rent-free in my head. I wanted this fictional character to have a happy ending. Miguel, after some prompting with an awkward stare gif, delivered a new ending for the character. I lost my shit. That new ended hit me in the feels harder. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for the ending, but I was also bawling like a baby at it. And I was asking, Why? Why did this story affect me so much? Lately, I've been grappling with the feel of being a failure. Made more poignan